


Chosen

by sofreakinmanyfandoms



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avenger Loki (Marvel), Ceiling Vent Clint Barton, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Clint Barton Feels, Deaf Clint Barton, Don't copy to another site, Dyslexic Clint Barton, F/M, Fluff, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts Feels, Pining, Sympathetic Loki, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-02-28 08:16:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18752521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sofreakinmanyfandoms/pseuds/sofreakinmanyfandoms
Summary: After Tony Stark breaks up with her, Pepper finds an unexpected friend in Hawkeye. Clint, on his part, is doing his best to hide the crush he's had on Pepper for a very long while and be there for her while she's going through a rough time. Tony feels guilty, Loki is sympathetic, and Natasha is so fed up with Clint's BS.





	1. Sometimes We Stumble into Good Things

**Author's Note:**

  * For [STARSdidathing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARSdidathing/gifts), [secondalto](https://archiveofourown.org/users/secondalto/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Not All Hearts Break](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18508078) by [STARSdidathing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARSdidathing/pseuds/STARSdidathing). 
  * Inspired by [Hold You So Close](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2774759) by [secondalto](https://archiveofourown.org/users/secondalto/pseuds/secondalto). 



> For Stars, who made me want to write this fic; and for secondalto, who made me fall in love with this pairing.
> 
> There will be NO character bashing in this fic! Yes, Tony choosing Loki over Pepper hurt her. No, she does not hate him for it, so don't expect me to hate on him here, or on Loki for being chosen. (Let's be honest, he's earned some fluff after all he's been through.)
> 
> Besides, if you die-hard ship Pepperony, why are you here? XD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint has a crush.
> 
> Pepper is hurting.
> 
> Natasha is getting fed up.

Despite what one might expect, Virginia Potts was used to having men break up with her. She was used to being told she was too cold, too distant, too invested in her career – too _much_ for the men in her life to handle. The first time it happened, she decided that if they were not okay with who she was, it was their problem; Pepper was not about to change herself for anyone who wanted her to be less than herself.

She’d thought Tony was finally the one who understood.

And really, it wasn’t that he _didn’t_ ; he actually very much appreciated her organization and her dedication to her work, both as his employee and later in their personal lives. Tony had a tendency to lose himself in his work, and while Pepper was fully committed (over-committed, if you asked her mother) to her job as well, she still knew how to take care of herself _and_ Tony. Yet even more than how she helped him, he helped her: she may have helped him stay alive, but he had helped her truly _live_. Without his daily quips, his insistence on fully enjoying himself (and ensuring she too found moments of joy), Pepper’s life was just work.

The truth was, despite the worry and the fear that went with loving Iron Man, life without him wasn’t life. It was just existence.

 

\----------

 

Natasha didn’t even blink when Clint dropped through the vents behind her, but she did reach for another mug. The archer had been uncharacteristically loud on his approach, indicating something was bothering him. When she turned to pass him the now full mug of coffee, he was already seated at her kitchen bar with his head in his hands.

“I’m going to hell, Tasha.”

She cocked an eyebrow as she placed the mug in front of him.

“Which of your many screw-ups do you think put you over the edge?”

He lifted his head to glare at her, but the look was softened by misery.

“Tony and Pepper broke up.”

“And that condemns you to hell because…?”

“It’s my fault.”

She’d never admit it, but Natasha nearly choked on her coffee. Externally, all that happened was a vaguely disapproving look she learned from Coulson. The archer rushed to explain.

“I didn’t mean to! It’s just, you know how Cap is, all sincere and catholic, and he was talking about how as a kid he’d prayed for his future wife to have all these traits that he admired and how he’d found them in Peggy, and, well, I figured what could it hurt? I swear I wasn’t asking for Pepper specifically, just, you know, someone really, really similar. Or exactly the same. Or whatever. And then they broke up and now she’s single and I don’t even believe in God but it’s probably my fault!”

“Tony’s been in love with Loki for weeks now. The timing for his breaking up with Pepper may be quite the coincidence, but it is in no way your fault.”

Clint’s head shot up. “Tony and _Loki_?”

Natasha was not impressed. “You’re a spy. How did you not notice? Too busy trying not to ogle your crush when she’s in the room?”

“How does that even work?” Clint asked, ignoring her remark. “That’s gotta be way too much sass for any relationship.”

“Oh, they’re not in a relationship yet. I’m guessing Tony is putting it off for Pepper’s sake, but he’ll probably be dating Loki within the month.”

“Huh.” The archer looked thoughtful as he sipped his coffee. “Well whadda ya know?”

That was a setup Natasha could _not_ ignore. “I know you’ve had a crush on Pepper for almost a year for no discernable reason.”

The glare Clint shot her this time was far less tempered but no more effective. “Okay, rude. One, she is a brilliant, gorgeous, elegant woman who any man would be lucky to have. Two, she’s highly competent in everything she does. Three –”

“Points acknowledged,” the redhead interrupted, standing from her seat across from him. “You have plenty of reasons for liking her. None of them mean she’d be a good match for you.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” the archer sighed, fiddling with his mug. “I could never be good enough for her anyway.”

The answering smack upside his head caused him to yelp. Natasha placed her now-empty mug in the dishwasher and left for the gym. She’d heard Clint’s self-deprecating list of reasons he could never be good enough for Pepper Potts far too many times in the past year to be willing to listen to it again.

 

\----------

 

Paperwork: absolutely necessary and the bane of her existence.

( _Note to self: Ask JARVIS how I ended up with a reputation for loving paperwork_. _If anyone knows how that happened, it would be him_.)

Pepper tried to juggle the stacks without dropping anything, wishing she’d made two trips like a sane person. Her PA had called in sick, and some of these reports had needed to be filled out two weeks ago. ( _Note to self: “Thank” Tony for sticking everything I asked him to sign out of sight and pretending it didn’t exist._ ) Normally she would have put it in a file box, but someone hadn’t restocked her stash ( _Note to self: Email supply and request a restock_ ) and she was in enough of a hurry she’d elected to simply carry them in her arms…all 20+ pounds of paper. Now she was regretting it as she stood in front of the door that led to the R&D labs without a free hand for the doorknob and papers trying to escape every which way.

“Oh! Oh, gosh, let me help you, oh gosh. Why has no one stopped to help? Here, I can take those.”

Her mental plotting was interrupted by the arrival of a very flustered Avenger. Hawkeye had come through the door in front of which Pepper was standing and immediately scooped the stacks of paperwork from her arms.

“Thank you, Clint,” she breathed with a smile as her arms rejoiced in their sudden freedom. “Normally Karen would deliver the new progress reports to each department, but she’s got the flu. I’ve emailed everyone copies, of course, and they are all available on the servers, but it’s SI policy to have blank paper copies available in case of… oh, you probably don’t care. Sorry, I’m prattling; it’s been a busy day. Thank you for the help.”

“My pleasure,” the archer assured her as he re-entered the door she now held open for him. “I’m always impressed by how much you’re able to get done in a day. And now you’ve got me curious; why does SI require paper copies? That seems odd for such an advanced tech company.”

Okay... Clint actually cared about what she had been saying, or at least he was pretending to care. That was unexpected; Tony had just ignored whatever he didn’t want to hear.

( _Note to self: Comparing every man I run into with my ex is not healthy, even on occasions where they stack up favorably_.)

“We have them in case of a major power outage; here in New York, it’s practically impossible to have one with Tony’s reactor powering the building, but it’s still company policy because all other locations are still on public power grids.”

“Makes sense.” Clint stopped when she did and shifted one of the stacks so she could pull the correct forms off the top and place them into various inboxes. “Although I’m kinda surprised Tony hasn’t powered all of SI’s buildings with arc reactors yet.”

Pepper snorted as she finished distributing that area’s paperwork and motioned him to follow her to the next lab. “Trust me, he’d like to. He already overworks himself, though, so until I can talk him into selecting and training someone else to oversee that project, I refuse to move it past the theoretical stage. It might be a while, since he’s stubborn and we haven’t exactly talked much lately…”

( _Note to self: Don’t cry on random Avengers about your lack-of-relationship problem, no matter how helpful and nice they’re being_.)

His eyes widened and a look Pepper didn’t understand flashed across his face. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have brought him up. That was completely inappropriate, I’m so sorry…”

“Clint,” she reassured him softly, placing a hand on his bicep ( _Note to self: Lusting over Hawkeye’s arms is completely inappropriate, no matter how delicious they look_ ), “Avengers Tower used to be Stark Tower. You work with Tony; you live with him. Even if it bothered me when you mention him – which it doesn’t – it would be unreasonable for me to expect you to never talk about him when I’m around. We’re working on being friends again, and being able to talk about Tony with people who also care about him helps.”

“Well,” he replied equally softly, “if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m around.” With a sheepish grin, he added, “Unless, you know, the world is being threatened. Or New York. New York gets threatened a lot.”

The smile that broke across Pepper’s face was the most genuine one she’d given anyone in the last two weeks. “Thank you, Clint. I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

\----------

 

_**New text from The Idiot:** ksaklasdflkjasdfalk…. (┘ᵡ∆ᵡ)┘͡Ш WHAT HAVE I DONE TO MYSELF?!?!?_

Natasha shook her head and pocketed her phone. Whatever Clint had gotten himself into would have to wait until she got back from her mission.


	2. Sometimes We Forget How to Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint doesn't want to be the gay best friend.
> 
> Pepper has things to think about.
> 
> Loki just had something he wanted to say; he didn't sign up for _this_.

Clint’s head shot up as the Black Widow exited the elevator onto the common floor. It had been nearly a month since she had left for a solo undercover infiltration mission and he’d missed his best friend, but… well… now was _not_ the best time for her to return.

“Natasha!” Pepper exclaimed from where she was tucked in next to him on the couch. “Welcome back! We were just about to watch _Cupcake Wars_. Would you like to join us?”

Natasha’s eyebrow cocked as she took in the scene in front of her, and Clint winced internally. He knew what this looked like; he had baked small batches of twelve different types of cupcakes (substituting the strawberries in one recipe with raspberries), and Pepper had helped him decorate them when she got off work. No two were identical, and they had spread them across the coffee table on various trays. To top everything off, Pepper was tucked under his arm with a colorful throw draped across their laps.

“Of course,” Natasha replied smoothly, settling into an armchair and scooping up a chocolate cupcake topped with pink frosting, rainbow sprinkles, and a candy unicorn. “Sounds like fun.”

Oh, yeah. There was going to be an interrogation later, Clint just knew it. Mentally, he started preparing.

 

\----------

 

He felt more than heard her presence come up behind him.

“So, you and Pepper,” Tasha smirked. “How long has that been going on?”

Clint turned and sagged back against the counter of his kitchen, crossing his arms. “You remember that really important text I sent you that you completely ignored?”

“It was hardly coherent enough to be called important.”

“I used all caps, Nat. _All_. _Caps_.”

“Don’t be such a baby.” She waved her hand dismissively. “So what changed?”

With a groan and a hand to the back of his neck, Clint began, “I found her struggling with paperwork, so I helped carry it while she distributed it around the different offices.”

“Such a gentleman.”

“Shut up, I’m telling my story. Anyway, Tony ended up being mentioned, and she got a little teary, and I somehow ended up offering to be her confidant whenever she needed to talk. I wasn’t expecting her to take me up on it, but she did. We’ve spent at least every other evening together; she cries on me, I feed her desserts, and we watch baking shows.”

Natasha’s mouth quirked up on one side. “The words I’m hearing should be positive, but your tone suggests they’re negative.”

Clint threw his hands up in the air. “That’s because if this were a rom com, I’d be the gay best friend! I don’t want to be the gay best friend, Tasha. I want to be the love interest.”

“You could be the male-but-not-gay best friend,” Nat pointed out. “He usually ends up turning into a love interest. Although,” the look she gave him was pointed, “he generally has to _admit to his feelings_ so she can realize she’s in love with him, too.”

“And if that ruins our friendship?” he countered. “She’s too important, Nat. I thought she was incredible before, but it was nothing like really knowing her. She’s brilliant and funny and she feels things so deeply that she sometimes doesn’t know how to let them out. She loves baking shows and cooking shows but she sucks in the kitchen even though she tries really hard and she actually hates paperwork but is too organized and self-disciplined to ever get behind on it and when she laughs it’s like springtime after a long winter and the world ought to stop to just enjoy the sound. I won’t risk losing her, not for anything, and definitely not for unrequited love. It’s too soon after Tony for anything to happen even if I _could_ ever have a chance.”

Natasha shook her head. “You never know, ястребок,” she said softly. “Your love may not be as unrequited as you believe it to be.”

 

\----------

 

Pepper hummed to herself as she packed up her workspace. She and Clint were going to attempt crème brûlée ( _Note to self: Stop by my apartment to pick up the heavy cream_ ), and she wanted enough time to watch _Hell’s Kitchen_ after it was finished. It felt like an eat-sugary-goodness-and-watch-Gordon-Ramsey-scream-at-people type of evening.

“Wow, he must be some guy,” Karen laughed, bringing a stack of paperwork into the office to file.

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” the PA explained, “with Mr. Stark, he sometimes had to beg you away from the office in the evenings when he wanted to do something before eight. Whoever you’ve been seeing lately though has you willingly leaving the office at five. Your productivity has even gone up despite working fewer hours.”

Pepper froze. Oh. She did sort of act like she was dating Clint. But he was just a friend, right?

( _Note to self: Analyze that after crème brûlée. Myself + distractions in the kitchen is never a good idea_.)

Before she could correct Karen’s assumption, the other woman had finished her filing and left to gather her things for the night. Pepper was left to herself as she gathered her coat.

She had to double back to her apartment when she forgot to pick up the cream.

 

\--------

 

“Ms. Romanoff, may I take a few minutes of your time?”

The redhead looked up and found Pepper standing in the doorway to the kitchen, shifting nervously. Nat cocked an eyebrow and smiled, motioning to the stools along the kitchen bar.

“For you? Anytime. What can I help you with Miss Potts?”

“Oh, just Pepper, please,” the woman insisted, smoothing her skirt as she sank onto a seat.

“Then call me Natasha.” Nat went back to dicing garlic for her piroshky.

“Natasha. Of course.” Pepper fidgeted with her fingers, watching the spy’s hand maneuver the knife. It took only a few moments for Natasha to realize it would take some prompting to get to the heart of whatever topic had lead the CEO of Stark Industries to seek her out.

“So,” she asked, scraping the garlic aside on the cutting board and starting in on some green onions, “to what do I owe the pleasure of your company this afternoon?”

Pepper hesitated before starting slowly. “It has recently been brought to my attention that Clint and I have been spending enough time together that people could think we’re… dating.”

Nat blinked at her onions before looking up. “I may have noticed that,” she said slowly, thinking on the interactions between the two of them that she’d observed, “but I’m not sure why that would lead you to me.”

“To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure why it did either,” Pepper admitted. “It’s just that you know him better than anyone else, and I guess I was wondering what type of woman he likes?” When Natasha merely blinked at her, she continued, “Having it assumed that Clint and I are together made me realize that if I let myself, I could fall for him, but I don’t want to do that if there’s no way he’d be interested back.”

 _Oh_. Oh, this was just too perfect. “So you came to me to ask if there were any chance of Clint falling in love with you?”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Pepper stood, flustered. “It was ridiculous of me, really. Just because Clint is a good friend doesn’t mean he’d ever be interested. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

“Pepper –”

The woman froze.

“If I may ask,” Natasha smiled at her, “what is it about Clint that makes you think you could fall for him?”

Pepper looked at the other redhead in confusion, a light blush highlighting the freckles dusted across her nose and cheeks. “You know what he’s like. How could any woman not fall for him?”

“I do know what he’s like, yes, but please humor me and elaborate. My perspective is rather… unusual.”

“Well,” Pepper sighed, “he’s… he’s sweet, and kind, and considerate. He notices things about people and takes care of them; he gives them what they need when they need it. He’s dedicated to maintaining his skill but he doesn’t let being an Avenger consume his life, and he’s… he’s… he’s _fun_. Light, despite everything he’s been through, and when I’m around him, I feel light, too.”

With a final blush, she exited the kitchen, and Natasha turned to the vent above her.

“You can stop being a creepy stalker, now.”

Clint dropped from the vents, face bright red. “How long did you know I was up there?”

“Long enough that I wasn’t going to let her go without giving me that list of reasons.”

“You’re a real jerk, you know that?” Clint retorted, but he was all smiles. “And I guess you were right. Maybe I have a chance after all.

 

\----------

 

Pepper left the kitchen feeling slightly mortified and no more certain about, well, anything. She was nothing if not professional, however, and her lunch break was now over. She had a job to do, so she stopped by her office to pick up some important paperwork she needed Tony to sign and headed for the lab.

Where she walked in on him kissing Loki and promptly dropped the papers everywhere.

“I am _so sorry_!” she blurted as their attention turned towards her.

Pepper stepped back and immediately turned to leave. Tony’s face was covered in shame and Loki’s was as unreadable as ever.

( _Note to self: Karen can take all paperwork to Tony for the foreseeable future_. _I never want to walk in on that again_.)

“Miss Potts, please wait. I would like to speak to you if I may.”

To be honest, Pepper hadn’t been expecting either of them to follow her because her brain was still working on the fact she’d walked in on Tony kissing someone. If she _had_ been expecting one of them to follow her, however, it would _not_ have been Loki.

“Please?” the god asked softly, hand hovering over but not touching her arm.

 

\----------

 

“I am _so sorry_!”

“No,” Loki told his lover when the man moved to follow Miss Potts as she rushed out the door.

“I need to talk to her,” Tony insisted, pulling against Loki’s hold on his arm. “I have to let her know that, that…”

“That you really did love her? That you still do?” Loki soothed his boyfriend, pulling him in close and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “Let me, please. There are some things I need to say anyway, and now is probably the best opportunity I’ll get. Wait here, please?”

Tony reluctantly let Loki go. The god smiled at his boyfriend softly before following after her.

“Miss Potts,” Loki called as soon as she came into view, “please wait. I would like to speak with you if I may.

Miss Potts froze at the sound of his voice. Loki reached for her automatically, but stopped himself before grabbing her arm; any touch from him would probably be unwelcome.

“Please?” he tried again.

The slump that overcame Miss Potts’s shoulders was something Loki had never expected to see. Defeat was etched into every line of her normally proud and professional stance.

“I thought I was getting over him,” she whispered. “I really thought I was.”

Loki wasn’t entirely sure how it happened, but they both ended up on the floor leaning against the wall. His arms were around the readhead and she was sobbing into his shoulder.

“He’s still in love with you, too,” he admitted to her as her tears slowed. “He cries sometimes because he misses you.”

“But obviously I wasn’t enough,” she sniffed, taking the handkerchief he summoned and offered her. “I never am.”

With a sigh, Loki rested his head on the top of hers. “I… I have been where you are several times, where someone I love leaves me for someone else. I swear to you that I never asked Anthony to choose me, and he never cheated on you. I cannot regret being with him because I love him, but I very much regret the hurt it causes you.”

The two of them remained seated on the floor together for nearly an hour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> According to Google translate, "маленьий ястреб" means "little hawk". While I do speak some Russian, this is not part of my learned-from-a-reputable-source vocabulary, so please correct me if it's wrong.
> 
> UPDATE: Many thanks to Simuran, who corrected my Russian! New text: "ястребок" = little (small) hawk


	3. Sometimes We Hear the Truth by Accident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint brings Pepper dinner. 
> 
> Then Clint gets the good drugs.
> 
> Pepper gets an unexpected confession.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really, really tried to keep this at three parts, guys, but this was just getting too long, so I added a fourth. Oops.

Loki entered the communal kitchen and furrowed his brow at what Clint was pulling out of the oven. “Why are you making lemon meringue pie?”

“Because it’s Pepper’s favorite?” Clint wasn’t sure why the god was asking; he made it every couple of weeks for that very reason. Surely everyone knew that by now?

“I know _that_ ,” Loki confirmed, offended. “I just didn’t expect you to make it on a night she wasn’t coming over, since baked goods never last long with my brother and the soldiers around.”

“You say that like you don’t regularly out-eat Thor,” Clint retorted before freezing. “Wait. What do you mean she isn’t coming over? We’re supposed to watch the season premiere of the Great British Bake Off tonight.”

Loki opened the fridge and began pulling out the ingredients for a sandwich. “When we came back from lunch, her assistant said something about a crisis at SI’s headquarters in Hong Kong. Virginia said she was going to text you.”

“ _Virginia?_ Since when do you not call her Miss Potts? Or for that matter, have lunch together?” Clint asked, pulling out his phone and finding it dead. “Aw, battery, no…”

“Since she cried all over my shirt yesterday and we went out for pedicures and froyo after,” the god said as though hanging out with his boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend were a normal thing to do. His sandwich was now twice as big as the ones Steve and Bucky had eaten for lunch, and he settled in at the kitchen bar to eat it. Clint elected to ignore him and wandered off to find his charger.

Sure enough, once his phone was plugged in and back on he found a text from Pepper, apologizing for cancelling that evening. Between teleconferences to sort out whatever had happened and the paperwork that needed to be filed as quickly as possible, she didn’t know when she’d be able to get off for the night.

When Clint made it back into the kitchen, Loki was gone along with half of the now room-temperature pie. (Stupid chaos gods and their use of magic for the thievery of baked goods.) He quickly packed up two slices and hid them inside Steve’s giant picnic basket before throwing some water on to boil and digging the penne out of the pantry.

 

\----------

 

( _Note to self: I should probably find something to eat before my blood sugar drops any lower_.)

Pepper rubbed her eyes, long past caring if her eye makeup was intact, and pulled open the desk drawer in which she hid her emergency snack stash. It had taken six hours of telephone and video conferences with the head of the Hong Kong SI branch and his investigators to determine why the production line in one of their factories had suffered such a catastrophic failure, catch those responsible, and notify the families of the workers who had been injured or killed in the explosion. Now she was processing as much of the paperwork the incident had generated as she could; while much of it would have to wait until later, she wanted to make sure the people and families affected would be taken care of as the plant rebuilt. Temporary transfers of workloads and employees to other factories, medical coverage (and workman’s comp) for those in the hospital, donations for the families who had lost people to help them get through their time of grief – while Pepper could have pawned nearly all of it off on Tony as the actual owner of Stark Industries, she wanted it all taken care of as quickly as possible; and, in all honesty, she didn’t really want to talk to him right now.

Her drawer was empty. ( _Note to self: Having an emergency snack drawer is only helpful if it’s kept stocked with snacks_.) She should probably get up and find something to eat; her blood sugar was low enough that her hands had started shaking and thinking was becoming difficult. Even the knock on her door took a few moments to register.

“Come in?”

Clint’s head popped into view and he offered a sheepish grin. “Sorry to interrupt, but I thought if you were stuck here maybe you could at least have a decent dinner?” He stepped fully into her office and shut the door behind himself, bringing with him a frankly monstrous picnic basket and the delicious scent of tomato and herbs and – thank heaven! – warm, garlicy bread. “It’s nothing fancy; just some penne and marinara sauce, garlic bread, a light salad…”

Pepper felt all the tension that had been building up since lunch drain out of her body. “It smells wonderful, Clint. Thank you.” She began shuffling around the stacks of paperwork, trying to clear space for the food.

“Ah, ah, ah! Tada!” Clint pulled a blanket from behind his back and spread it out on the floor. “I brought an actual, honest-to-God picnic basket. I had to bring a blanket too.” He grinned and said, in his best impression of Thor, “This feast was not meant to be eaten upon elevated surfaces!”

The laughter that burst out of her seemed to startle him, but his grin didn’t diminish. He had spread out the blanket and spread the food across it by the time that she finally caught her breath and wiped away her tears, careful to not smear her makeup. Pepper carefully lowered herself onto the blanket across from him, blushing slightly when her stomach growled. When he heard it, Clint’s brow furrowed.

“Have you eaten anything since lunch? It’s almost nine.”

“I have a snack drawer for emergencies,” she informed him, sighing and adding, “but it’s empty, and I don’t remember if I had anything from it today or not,” when he remained skeptical.

“What do you normally keep in it?” Clint asked. “I can pick some stuff up from that market a few blocks over. It’s open twenty-four seven.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she rushed to assure him. “I can have my assistant pick something up when she gets in tomorrow.”

“Do you need to work all night?” When she blushed, Clint nodded firmly. “Exactly. I’m not leaving you without food if you’re going to be up all night. When we’re done here, I’ll go pick something up.”

( _Note to self: I think I’m falling for him_.)

“If you insist,” Pepper said, feeling slightly embarrassed Clint felt the need to take care of her, yet very flattered. She smiled a bit to herself as she reached for the plate of food he’d made up for her and moaned as she bit into the bread.

It was homemade. He’d made her homemade garlic bread.

( _Note to self: Yes, I do seem to be falling rather quickly_.)

 

\----------

 

Two weeks later, Pepper was still dealing with paperwork from the Hong Kong incident, although she was mostly back to regular office hours. If she stayed late a few evenings just so Clint would bring her food, well… no one had to know.

Clint, however, had been called out with the Avengers three days ago for a mission of indeterminate length, and Pepper found herself reverting to her pre-Clint routine. She left the office at eight, had a frozen dinner with the news playing in the background, reviewed her schedule for the next day, looked over some paperwork she had brought home, and finally went to bed.

The worst part, though, was how completely and thoroughly she missed him…

 

\----------

 

“I swear, if he doesn’t survive, I’ll kill him.”

“Pep, darling, calm down. He’ll be okay. His body is just taking time to rest while it recovers.”

“Don’t you tell me to calm down, Anthony Edward Stark! He _jumped_ off a _building_ that _blew up while he was on it!_ I have every right to be upset!”

“Perhaps, Anthony, you should join the others in the waiting room.”

“Oh no, you two are not allowed to team up on me. That is not allowed to happen. Lo, you’re supposed to take my side. That’s what good boyfriends do.”

“And I’ll happily take your side next time you’re being logical. Virginia has every right to be upset that the man for whom she is developing feelings has been injured.”

“‘M fine,” Clint mumbled, finally getting his eyes to open and struggling to focus. “Aw, ears, no…”

Three concerned faces were immediately hovering around his bed in what appeared to be SHIELD medical.

“Sorry about that, buddy,” Stark said. “I know it hurts to sleep with the aids in, but I thought you might prefer sore ears to not being able to hear anything if you had any trouble waking up.”

“Th’nks,” managed Clint, his voice rasping a bit. “Was probably a good idea.” Pepper quickly pulled a water bottle from somewhere and twisted the cap off, holding it up to his mouth and helping him drink. “Thank you, Pep. Pepper. Pep Pep Pepper. Pepperoni?” He scrunched his nose. “No, that was the couple’s name for you and Tony. What should our name be? There’s no good way to combine Clint and Pepper.”

“Or Clint and Virginia,” Loki put in helpfully, seeming vaguely amused. “The painkillers are in full effect, I see.”

“Pro’ly,” Clint slurred, grinning. “I feel great. Fantastic. Never better.” He frowned and looked up at Pepper. “Unless you’re willing to kiss it better. Then I feel terrible and need as much help as possible.”

Tony cackled. “Oh, this is too good. I’m gonna have to have JARVIS get me a copy of this security tape.”

“Right,” Loki said, grabbing Tony by the shoulders and steering him towards the door. “I suspect we won’t be needed here anymore. We’ll tell the rest of the team Barton is awake.”

“Have fun, you two!” Tony called over his shoulder as Loki manhandled him out.

Once they had the room to themselves, Pepper carefully sat on the edge of the bed and took the archer’s hand. “You really scared me, Clint. You could have died.”

“Could die any time I go out,” Clint pointed out ever-so-helpfully. “‘S okay, though. Not like the world really needs me in it.”

“I don’t care if the rest of the world needs you,” Pepper said, her hand tensing around his. “ _I_ need you.”

“Really wish you meant that,” Clint muttered, trying hard to stay awake. “Wanted you forever. Why you gotta love Tony? Why can’t you love me back?”

Before Pepper could reply, Clint slipped back into a drug-induced sleep.

 


	4. Sometimes We Come Out Okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is uncomfortable, Clint tries to hide, and Pepper is (as always) the most put-together of the three.
> 
> Also, Natasha's glad that's _finally_ over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I happy with this chapter? Not particularly. But I've stared at it and gone through it and changed things so often that I'm not sure I'll ever like it any better, so here you go.

“Tony!”

The genius momentarily froze when he heard his name called before quickly darting for the door.

“Not so fast, Anthony,” his boyfriend whispered in his ear, catching the brunet by the waist. “I do believe Virginia needs to speak to you.”

Tony brushed imaginary wrinkles out of his shirt once he had wriggled free and scowled at Loki. “I thought I told you that you two aren’t allowed to team up against me.”

The mage ignored his displeasure, turning instead to Tony’s former assistant. “Are we still on for lunch tomorrow, Virginia?”

“Of course,” the redhead said with a smile. “Twelve thirty?”

“Yes. I shall see you then.” Loki kissed the back of her hand with a small bow before turning back to Tony and giving him a significantly less chaste kiss on the mouth. “Anthony, I shall see _you_ _tonight_. Do _not_ keep me waiting.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Tony breathed, slumping back against his worktable as the god swept out of the lab. He cleared his throat when he caught Pepper looking at him in amusement. “What can I do for you, Pep?”

“I need your approval on R&D’s quarterly report…” she paused and sighed, “and I had a personal question.”

“Well, we both know how terrible I am with personal questions, but if you insist. With what can I fumble my way through helping you?”

“Why did you pick Loki?”

Tony paled. “Pep…”

“I’m not asking out of anger, or bitterness, or… Tony, I just need to know.”

With a sigh, Tony pulled himself onto his work table so he was seated facing her. “I really did love you, you know. I still do. Breaking up with you hurt me, too.”

“I know.” She sank onto the workshop couch. “I know you did. I’m not questioning that. I’m just trying to figure something right now and it would really help to know how you made that decision.”

A slow smile spread across his face. “Clint?”

“Tony…”

“All right, all right, Pep.” Tony paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. “You and me, we were well matched. You complimented me. You made me want to be a better person. But Loki… When I’m with Loki, I feel like I already am better. With Loki, I don’t just feel like the best version of myself; I feel like I’m more than I ever was before.”

“Like he opened up parts of you that you didn’t know existed?”

Tony looked up and caught Pepper’s eye for the first time since he’d started talking. “Yeah. Like he gave me more space inside to be who I could be. You were my other half, but with Loki I’m already whole.”

A moment of understanding passed between them, and they both stood.

“Thank you, Tony,” Pepper whispered in his ear as she wrapped him in a hug. “For your advice, and for breaking up with me.”

“Go get ‘im, Tiger.”

Pepper slapped him on the shoulder as Tony laughed. With a smirk, she passed him the folder with the report, and just like that they slipped back into their roles of colleagues and friends.

He’d given her a lot to think about, and that was okay. Pepper had a pretty good idea where her thoughts were going to lead.

And really, she couldn’t stay hurt. Yes, she still loved Tony, but someone with blond hair and a brilliant grin was creating a new space in her heart.

\----------

“Please, Tasha?” he begged as they made their way into the elevator.

“Ястребок, I am not killing you because you regret confessing your feelings to Pepper.”

Clint sagged against the elevator wall with a pitiful whine. “Why’d she have to come see me when I was all drugged up?”

“Because she cares about you,” Natasha said, brushing her fingers through his hair. “She was worried, and she was right to be. You should still be in medical.”

“She can find me if I’m still in medical,” Clint mumbled. He was already exhausted from being out of bed but the need to hide in familiar territory was overriding everything else. It was a testament to how badly he was still injured that his petulant moping hadn’t earned him a slap on the head from Natasha yet. Instead, the redhead merely rolled her eyes.

“Pepper only left your bedside because of pressing business and because I promised I wouldn’t you alone. I know you see better from a distance, but this level of obliviousness is a new low for you, ястребок.”

“I just… I can’t take the chance you’re wrong, Nat. She’s too important.”

JARVIS opened the elevator door for them as they arrived on Clint’s floor. Natasha automatically looped her arm around Clint’s waist as they exited and let him rest most of his weight on her. Only a few steps into the room, however, Clint froze.

\----------

Pepper had just finished making the bed that now sat in place of Clint’s couch when the elevator doors slid open and Clint and Natasha stepped out onto Clint’s floor. The archer froze when he saw the altered room set-up, a bewildered look crossing his face.

“Tasha?” he whispered, “I thought they took me off the good drugs?”

“They did.” Natasha dragged him over to the bed and dumped him there. “He’s your problem now, Pepper.” With that, she turned and stalked back into the elevator.

A soft smile bloomed across Pepper’s face as Clint merely continued to blink up at her in confusion. She catalogued his injuries (Note to self: Have JARVIS order more bandages and disinfectant for this floor) and waited for him to speak.

“Why is there a bed in my living room?”

Okay, that wasn’t the first question she was expecting, but Pepper mentally conceded that she probably should have.

“Because no matter who orders you to, you’re not going to stay in bed until you’re completely healed. At least with your bed here, it’s closer to everything else you could get into so you won’t have to move as much.”

Two more slow blinks. “That makes sense.” A very long pause. “Why are _you_ in my living room?”

“Because you take care of me,” Pepper said softly, brushing his hair off his forehead, “and now I’m returning the favor.”

“This isn’t because of what I said while drugged up, is it? Because we can totally ignore that. Probably should, actual–”

Pepper cut off Clint’s rant before it could get started by pressing her lips to his. The archer immediately melted down into the bed and pulled her with him. The kiss started off tentative, almost shy, but deepened quickly as soon as she opened her mouth. By the time they broke apart gasping for air, Pepper could feel  a warm, pleasant buzz through her entire body.

(Note to self: Do that way more often.)

“Oh,” Clint breathed, eyes wide as he gazed up at her with such open adoration Pepper wasn’t sure she’d ever catch her breath.

“Yeah,” she teased him gently, “‘oh’.”

“Hey, don’t blame me for being surprised,” he pouted as his face flushed deep red. “You’re way out of my league and I’m kinda a huge step down after your last boyfriend.”

“Oh, no,” Pepper insisted, “you don’t get to minimize everything you’ve done for me. Clint, you take time out of your day to make sure I’m all right. You spend time with me doing things we both enjoy; you make sure I actually _relax_ at the end of the day. Never, ever think of yourself as a step down. I may have worked well with Tony, but I’m better with you. You’ve taught me things about myself I never knew before, and I’ll always be grateful for that.”

“Wow,” Clint whispered. “Kinda makes my falling for you because you’re ridiculously hot and competent seem pretty shallow.”

When JARVIS reported to Natasha that Mr. Barton and Ms. Potts had spent fifteen minutes laughing before starting _Nailed It_ on Netflix, she smiled. It was about damn time.

\----------

**Epilogue: One year later**

“Anthony, if you do not close everything down and get ready, we will be late. Our reservation is in one hour.”

Tony blinked at his lover a few times before furrowing his brow. “JARVIS, didn’t I ask for a warning two hours before we have to leave?”

“Indeed you did, Sir. You also muted me when I tried to give it to you.”

“Thank you, JARVIS. I shall take him from here.” Loki plied the screwdriver and gauntlet from the engineer’s hands and began steering him towards the door. “Take a quick shower and get dressed. It wouldn’t do to keep Pepper waiting.”

“You two are the most terrifying power couple. If you ever took your relationship beyond platonic, the world wouldn’t stand a chance. Never do that, by the way; I’d probably have to turn to Clint for consolation, and he’s really not my type.”

“I have no intentions of romantically pursuing anyone but you,” Loki replied dryly as the elevator arrived on their floor. “Now, off to the shower you go. I’ll lay out your suit.”

“Or,” Tony clung to his boyfriend’s arm, “better idea, you could join me. What do you say, hm? A little fun before our double date to bookend  with the fun we’ll have after?”

Loki leaned in closely until his lips were nearly brushing the brunet’s, and Tony’s eyes fluttered shut.

“No. Off you go, now.”

Tony whined as he opened his eyes to find Loki already across the room. “You’re no fun. Don’t tell me all the magic has left this relationship already.”

“I assure you, Anthony, there is still plenty of magic in this relationship, and I’ll be happy to show you just how much _after_ we have dinner with Pepper and Clint.”

Though he pouted, Tony did get ready, and soon enough the lovers were on their way to the restaurant, where they found Clint and Pepper waiting. It was a long night of laughter and fun as the two couples shared stories from their childhoods and teased each other about how smitten they were.

“To us,” Tony said with a smile, raising his wine glass at the end of the night. “To choosing the right person to spend your life with, and to being chosen in return.”

“To us,” the others chimed in, raising their glasses before taking a drink.

And if both Clint and Tony slipped their hands in their pockets to double-check that the small black boxes were still there, well… that’s for them to know, and their loved ones to find out.


End file.
